"Are you sure you should be doing this?"
"Trust me, my friend. I'll be fine."
"But we don't know what that thing could do, what if something devistating happens!"
"And I thought I was worried. I'll be fine."
"Know this, if you somehow turn into a fish or... something! Don't expect me not to panic."
"There's no need for that, Ezio. I'll be fine."
"I'd hope so, Leonardo."
Leonardo nodded reasuringly to his friend, he was hold the Piece of Eden in his hand. By some miracle, he had convinced Ezio into letting him have some more time to examine it. He placed the Apple down on his worktable, and sat himself down before staring to look it over. His fingers running through the crevases. Somehow, as his index traced the crisscrossing lines, a dim trail of gold light followed before fading seconds after.
He finally placed his palm down on it's top half, like Ezio had done, sighing when he got had no result. Maybe it reacted to his friend's presence, or maybe even something he did. He recalled him trying to figure out wheather Cesare would truely excape or not, then he had his answer. Maybe a question.
For a moment, the inventor thought before touching the Apple's smooth surface once more. With a sudden puff, the ball shined almost blindingly bright, but somehow Leonardo could pry his eyes away from it. And as quickly as it all came, it vanished, leaving the artist in pitch black. Wondering what had happened to the candle he had lit.
Rebecca pounded her desk with annoyance, "Damn it! Why can't the power grid just stop shorting out on us?"
"Maybe it just doesn't like you," Shaun was heard through the dark.
"Just incase you can't see, FOUREYES, I'm flipping you off." Rebecca retorted as she stuck him the middle finger.
"Yeah? Foureyes? You come up with that on you're own?" Shaun snorted.
"Seriously guys," Lucy's voice rang above them before Rebecca could respond. "We don't have time for this. Desmond, are you okay?"
"Huh? Yeah, Luc I'm alright." The sound of footsteps was echoed through the sancuary.
"Uh, Desmond, you don't need to be right next to me." Lucy noted.
"I don't know what, you're talking about. I'm standing right here." Desmond's voice was on the opposite side of the room from Lucy.
"Shaun?" Lucy asked.
"Sorry, I'm still at my station."
"Rebecca?"
"Nope."
"Then whose this guy sitting near me?"
"Chi sei tu?" A new voice asked in an unfamiliar laungage. Rebecca was sure she should have know the words from somewhere.
The lights were restored, showing the location where everyone was, Shaun stood at his work area, and Desmond was near the entrance, Lucy was at her seat, and sitting on the crates was a blond man with blue eyes glowing in the dim light. His bearded face lit with confusion. Not even his clothes gave any sign that he was from their time period, wearing leather boots that came to his knees, only to meet the rim of a dark tunic over a pair of black leggings. The sleeves striped with white lines where the black fabric was cut to give way to the under layer of the shirt. His shoulders barely covered by a gold trimmed red cape that matched the red bera which sat over his hair.
"Oh my god." Shaun was first to gasp.
The man sitting on the crates blinked, the look of confusion more strong and mixing with some anxiety. Rebecca begun to search through Ezio's memories for an answer. Suddenly she found herself staring straight at the same man, "Shit! We've got Leo!"
Desmond was just speechless, his gaze right on the artist, clearly too stunned to bring out the questions they all were thinking.
"Dove sono? Dove sia Ezio? Chi sei tu?" Leonardo was saying more questions then the group could begin to understand. Only Desmond seemed to have a clue, as he nodded slowly.
"Desmond? What's he saying?" Lucy asked him.
Desmond held a finger as a gesture to shut up for a moment. He responded a little slower then Leonardo, his Italian not as flueant as the Italian artist. "Sei in Monteriggioni. Più o meno."
"Che vuoi dire?" Leonardo asked back.
"Essa non sia il Rinascimento, l'anno è il 2012." Desmond answered with hesitantion.
Upon "2012", the blond's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, his mouth barely agate, and Rebecca could tell he was trying to process the entire situation. He then asked again, "Dove sia Ezio?"
"Ezio è tornato nel suo tempo corretto." Desmond told him.
"Dimostralo!" Leonardo hissed, his fingers dripping the crate he sat on until his knuckles started to turn white.
"Desmond? What's he saying?" Shaun questioned irritably.
"He asked me where he was and where Ezio was, I had to tell him he was in Monterriggioni in the year 2012 and that Ezio is still in the Renessance." Desmond answered with aggrivation. "He doesn't believe it and wants us to prove it."
Lucy sighed longly, "Maybe we should bring him outside, there is plenty of construction equiptment."
"Or maybe show him the internet," Rebecca suggested.
Desmond held his hand up to silence them, "Guardati intorno! Non usiamo le candele, ed otteniamo le nostre novità più veloce di lettere!" His voice was clearly annoyed from either his bickering friends, or bickering with the inventor.
"Non puoi mandarmi indietro?" Leonardo asked, his eyes wide with dismay.
"Non sappiamo come." Desmond answered shaking his head.
The very look of worry came back stronger with a longful face that made Rebecca feel a pang of pity for him. He didn't ask to be sent beyond his home. The artist's shoulders slumped slightly from their raised and defensive pose, and he stared down at his lap as he shook his head muttering to himself in fast Italian.
Leonardo couldn't help the truth settle like a heavy stone in his stomach, and now here he was. Surrounded by strange people in a strange place beyond what he thought he knew. "Idiot! Why did I even try to investigate that Apple? I shouldn't even be here!"
He felt someone's hand on his shoulder, the grip painfully reminded him of his friend. But he looked up to see it was the man who was the only one to speak in Italian; he gave him a sure stare, "You'll be fine. I promise."
Leonardo felt another unanswered question nagging at him, "Who are you?"
The man blinked as though he had forgotten the question to begin with, "I'm Desmond, the man with the glasses behind me is SHaun, the girl with the ear phones is Rebecca, and the Blond who freaked out earlier is Lucy."
Leonardo nodded as he tried to remember the names, "Are you going to try and send me back?"
"Of course we are going to try finding a way, for one it could change the course of history and another you had great influence on the world with your art." Desmond answered.
Rebecca then said something that the inventor couldn't understand, and Desmond sighed longly.
"I have to get back to work." He explained. He turned to Shaun and told him something.
Leonardo watched as Desmond walked back to a machine, where he laid himself down and Rebecca hooked some clear material to his head, the man soon drifted to sleep. But Leonardo was more or less curious about what they also consitered "work".